COVID-19 cases spiking again at some ICE detention centers. Critics say ICE failed to vaccinate detainees
Daniel Gonzalez, Arizona Republic and Maria Clark, The American South
CoreCivic owns and operates the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Several immigration detention centers in the U.S. are experiencing new spikes in COVID-19 cases.
ICE officials attribute the spikes to newly arrived immigrants transferred to ICE detention facilities from Border Patrol facilities near the border with Mexico, where there has been an influx of migrants and asylum seekers.
Many critics, however, say a failure by Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Biden administration to systematically administer vaccines to detainees has led to the rise in new cases.
Critics say ICE has failed to adhere to other Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, including reducing unnecessary transfers of detainees between ICE detention facilities, where detainees live in tight quarters behind bars and the virus can easily spread.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2021/05/27/covid-19-cases-spiking-again-at-some-ice-detention-centers/5210208001/